The pipes are calling
by Jara
Summary: SG-1 is on downtime but then something happens. I can't really summarize but you will notice soon enough what it is about. not really fluff but still something well you'll see just read.


Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret productions. I'm just borrowing them to do something really silly.  
  
The song Danny Boy is a traditional Irish song by Thomas Moore apparently although I am not sure about this. (I think O'Neill is playing the Luka Bloom version btw =)  
  
A/N: I don't know where this story came from. Suddenly it was there in my head so I guess I'm responsible for it. This is really silly story but I hope you like it anyway. I apologise for any typo's or grammar mistakes, if you feel like I should do without them feel free to volunteer to betaread for me. =) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Jack O'Neill had been bored for a couple of days now. His was officially on downtime as General Hammond wanted them all to *relax*. Apparently you could order people to do just that. Not that it was working though, Jack is forced to believe that as he most clearly is sitting on a chair in Major Carters office, watching her 'relax' over some kind of doo-hickey. So as the responsible CO that Jack is he is relaxing while keeping an eye on her. Strangely enough that really was just that... relaxing. As long as he wasn't letting his thoughts trail towards stolen moments neither of them chose to remember... out loud.  
  
Amused he watches her brow furrowing as she studies a certain part of the doo-hickey. Of course Jack didn't think that was cute. Nope, he really didn't.  
  
"Your face is going to get stuck like that." He warns her.  
  
Her eyes tear away from the 'thing' she is trying to understand and settle on his face. It's clear that she had already forgotten he was even there. "What?" She asks confused.  
  
He motions towards his own eyebrows. "If you frown any harder it's going to get stuck like that." He explains.  
  
She rolls her eyes but he can see the sparkly of amusement in her blue eyes. "I doubt it." She says and turns back towards the doo-hickey that suddenly starts to blink. Judging by the triumphant grin on her face that was exactly was she was trying to accomplish.  
  
"Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling From glen to glen, and down the mountain side The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying 'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide."  
  
They both jump in their seat as suddenly the loud tune blares through the speakers.  
  
"What the...?" Sam looks up confused.  
  
"But come ye back when summer's in the meadow Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow 'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so."  
  
Jack shrugs but doesn't look surprised either. "Someone is trying to tell Daniel something?" He proposes amused.  
  
"Who?" Sam asks frowning and she gets up and sticks her head outside the office into the hall. A second later she closes the door again. "Seems that whoever did this got into the speakers on this floor."  
  
'And if you come, when all the flowers are dying  
  
And I am dead, as dead I well may be  
  
You'll come and find the place where I am lying  
  
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.'  
  
"Just this floor?" Jack asks as he picks up a part from the doo-hickey and studies it with little interest.  
  
And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.  
  
"How am I supposed to know that?" Sam asks as she carefully takes the part from his hand and puts it on the desk.  
  
Jack shrugs. "Because you're the only one in the room here who is capable of doing that."  
  
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.  
  
"You think I somehow tampered with the computers to get them to play 'Danny Boy'?" She asks him shocked that he would even consider that.  
  
"I didn't say that." Jack clarifies. "I said you are capable of doing that. It's a huge difference." He points out to hair, literally as he notices his finger is waggling at her.  
  
"Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling From glen to glen, and down the mountain side The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying 'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide."  
  
"No, it isn't! You really think I did that?" She is looking at him with big blue and very shocked eyes.  
  
Jack doesn't get a chance to reply though as all of a sudden the door bursts open.  
  
"JACK!" Daniel cries out glaring across the room.  
  
"Yessss?" Jack asks innocently. How did he know he was here anyway? Surely he can't have checked his office first that fast?  
  
"You did this!" The archaeologist points at him accusingly as the song happily continues its loop.  
  
"Me? Ow, come on, Danny boy. You know I can't possibly do that. That means I have to get into the system, make changes..." He waves his hands around. "Now Carter is the only one here in the room who could pull that off."  
  
Daniel stops and looks at Sam frowning.  
  
"I didn't do it!" She cries out desperate. "I can't even think you would consider me doing that. I know you hate that song."  
  
Daniel nods. "Yeah, I know Sam. I'm sorry. It's just... Who the hell did it then?"  
  
Carter shrugs. "Beats me."  
  
*SG-1 TO THE OPERATION ROOM. SG-1 TO THE OPERATION ROOM*  
  
The announcement didn't make the song stop for a second.  
  
"Well at least they had the sense to not override the other functions." Sam sighs and walks towards the door, Daniel on her heels.  
  
"I can't believe it! I open the door to office and right away that music starts playing." He whines to Sam.  
  
Jack grins and gets up too, following the rest of his team. "Maybe there's a lesson in all this." He smirks and Daniel turns around confused.  
  
"A lesson?" He asks adjusting his glasses.  
  
"Yeah, you know. Something like... I don't know: Don't work on downtime or they'll play oh Danny Boy?" Jack tries.  
  
Daniel stares at Jack. "I KNEW IT! YOU DID IT!" He cries out pointing an accusing finger towards the Colonel.  
  
"Ow come on, me and what brain?" Jack asks him.  
  
Daniel turns around and looks at Sam who is insulted again right away. "Daniel, I have better things to do with my life than make up boobytraps that play some stupid Irish song when you enter your office!"  
  
"Who says it's anyone from SG-1 anyway? Might be one of your admirers from the infirmary." Jack smirks and brushes past Daniel and enters the elevator together with Sam. "You coming or what?"  
  
"I don't see why they would do anything like that." Daniel objects as he joins them into the elevator.  
  
A couple of minutes later the whole of SG-1 except for Teal'c enters the gateroom. General Hammond is already standing there, yelling to an officer to try at least to turn the volume down. When he notices that the three people he wanted to see have entered the room, he turns towards them and right away glares at Jack.  
  
"This isn't funny, Colonel!" He cries over the music that somehow just seemed to be louder in here.  
  
"Ah, for crying out loud!" Jack cries. "Why on earth is everyone so eager to blame this on me?"  
  
Daniel who is standing next to him scratches in his hair as he wonders if Jack is expecting an answer to that or not. "Who else would come up with it?" He then asks, having made up his mind. Jack growls in response and looks at the General as he notices in the corner of his eye how Carter is already sitting behind the computers trying to figure out what happened.  
  
"Sir, do you really think I could pull this off? I'm sure I could manage to set up a trap in Daniels office and have a small radio play the tune." He confesses. "But hacking into the system and have it being played over the whole base? Come on!"  
  
Hammond clearly relaxes a bit as he considers the words of his 2IC. "I guess not but that still doesn't change that this song is driving me nuts." He turns around and walks up behind Sam. "Major, do you think you can fix the problem?"  
  
Jack and Daniel follow him and they all look over Sams shoulders as they try to make out what she is doing.  
  
"I think so, sir. It will just take a while." She answers a bit absently as her eyes are fixed on the screen in front of her.  
  
"Good, carry on." Hammond says and straightens his back. Annoyance floods his features as for the fifteenth time the song starts what seems to be its never ending loop. "I'll be in my office." He mumbles to no one in particular and leaves the gate room hoping that the volume there will be less excruciating.  
  
"Sam, please tell me you can fix this soon." Daniel whines sick and tired of the song but there is no answer as Sam is trying to make sense of the codes that are filling up the screen.  
  
"Sam?" Daniel tries again.  
  
With a delay Sam tears her eyes from the screen to give her team-mate an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Daniel. I'm doing the best I can but whoever did this was..." She stops and her eyes go to Jack as if she is trying to seize him up. "Well, good." She ends the sentence, frowns deeply and turns her head back towards the screen.  
  
As Daniel has noticed the weird look Sam gave her CO, he too looks at Jack but with a more questioning look.  
  
The Colonel just shrugs. "What do you mean 'good'?" He asks Sam.  
  
"I mean good like they had to break through a lot of security, so whoever did this knows how to hack." She explains. "They also must have a lot of knowledge about the system in order to make this change without interfering with internal communications. So it seems they really wanted to make sure that the security of the base wasn't compromised."  
  
"Or they just have the right security level." Jack points out.  
  
"No, they hacked it, sir. See this code here it says..." She points to a certain code on the screen.  
  
"Ah, spare me, Carter." Jack says quickly, not sure if he can try and make sense of her words and at the same moment try and tune out:  
  
"Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling From glen to glen, and down the mountain side The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying 'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide."  
  
"You can fix it?" He asks her.  
  
"Like I said to General Hammond, I think I can... It will just take a while." She sighs.  
  
Jack nods. "Good enough for me. Just do it." He waves his hand at her and then pulls up a chair.  
  
AN HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER  
  
"I'm gonna go and get some coffee." Daniel cries out as he tries to be heard above the song he so hates. "Anyone need anything?" He asks.  
  
Sam just briefly points to the cup next to her screen without looking away from the computer.  
  
Jack just shakes his head and watches Daniel leave. Stifling a yawn, he turns his attention back towards Sam. She is almost with her nose against the screen, a deep frown on her forehead as she tries to make sense of everything. Suddenly she sits up in her chair and bites her lower lip. Jack can't help but acknowledge how cute she looks like that. Her fingers fly on the keyboard and the screen changes. At first a triumphant smile lights up her face, one you only get to see if you bother to watch her work. The smile quickly goes though and her brow furrows. She bites her lower lip again but this time it is different, it isn't a pensive motion. Although the screen is lightening her face blue Jack is sure he can see her cheek slightly go red. She rises a bit more in her chair, blocking the view to the screen in case anyone would try to see what was going on. Not that there was anyone else but him. Her hands float above the keyboard indecisively. He can tell that she is trying not to turn to look at him as her shoulders tense and then she quickly types something and hits enter.  
  
Not a second later suddenly the music shuts down and a welcome silence floats into the base.  
  
"Good job, Carter." Jack says grinning from his chair, not getting up.  
  
She turns her chair around abruptly and stares at him. There is a certain accusation in her look and he isn't sure if she looks 'majorly' pissed or embarrassed. He just irks up his eyebrows challenging her to say what is on her mind when an excited Daniel barges into the room followed by a relieved looking Hammond.  
  
"Sam you're a saviour!" Daniel cries out as he walks up to her and pats her unto the shoulder, oblivious of the tension between her and Jack.  
  
"I must say I agree with Dr Jackson." Hammond says smiling. "You never realise how much you appreciate the silence until it is gone. Do you know who did this?"  
  
Sam keeps looking at Jack as she answers the question. "No, sir. Whoever did this was really good and left no tracks at all."  
  
"No tracks at all?" Jack asks, not looking away either. "I think we have a security problem on our hands here."  
  
"I don't like the feeling either." George has to agree.  
  
Finally Sam is forced to look away from Jack and she turns to look at the General. "Sir, I have a few suggestions to make that can prevent this from happening again."  
  
Hammond nods. "I'm sure you have, Major. I expect a report from you when you are all back on duty." He then looks at all three of them. "Which isn't today. Why are you all here?" He asks with an accusing tone.  
  
"Ah, well I wanted to study these hieroglyphs we came across at PX7-9A3." Daniel stammers.  
  
"I wanted to study the device we found on that mission, I think it can help optimise the performance of the naquada-reactor." Sam explains.  
  
Hammond looks at Jack who just shrugs. "Well they were all doing it so I guessed I come go and supervise them."  
  
George sighs. "It seems that Teal'c is the only one who is actually enjoying his downtime."  
  
"Works if you take it off-world far away from Cheyenne Mountain." Jack points out.  
  
"Works if you actually have a family to spend it with." Daniel agrees.  
  
"I don't care. You are all on downtime and I do not want to see you back at Cheyenne Mountain until next Monday 09:00. Don't even bother to come down here because I'll have an armed escort guide you back home." With that he turns around and leaves a stunned SG-1 behind in the gate room.  
  
"What just happened?" Daniel asks confused.  
  
"Seems we are ordered to go home." Jack says and gets up from his chair. "Enjoy the time off." He waves his hand in the air as a sort of goodbye and disappears along the corridors.  
  
"Can he do that?" Daniel asks Sam.  
  
She shrugs. "I think he just did." She quickly gets up. "I have to ask the Colonel something." She tells Daniel and then darts off after him.  
  
"Sir?" She calls just in time catching up with him as he is about to step into the elevator.  
  
"Carter." He nods at her and gets inside, waiting for her to join him.  
  
Sam steps in and looks at him intently. "You did it, didn't you?" She states more than asks.  
  
"Did what?" Jack asks as his eyes are focused on the doors behind her instead of at her face.  
  
"Hack into the computers and make that song go off the moment Daniel got in his officer. Well actually the moment he turned on his lights." She looks at Jacks face but not an emotion, not a flicker of surprise is to be seen as his military mask remains solidly in place.  
  
"Now why would you think I did that?" He asks in an impassive voice but his eyes move away from the point behind her and settle on her face. Sam feels like he can read every thought as he looks at her like that.  
  
"Because in order to shut the song down I had to answer one question. There just wasn't a way around it no matter what I tried." She explains.  
  
"Oh." Is all she gets as a reply and it remains quiet in the elevator for what appears to be an eternity.  
  
"What question?" Jack finally breaks it after what actually was just a few seconds.  
  
Sam swore she saw a strange flicker in his eyes, betraying the impassive mask he was trying to maintain. Still as it is gone as quickly as it came she isn't sure and tries to tells herself it was just a reflection. His dark brown eyes lock with hers as he waits for a reply. Sam finds herself unable to keep looking at him like this and drops her gaze, the warmth in her cheeks warning her that she is blushing. Although she can't see his eyes any longer she still can feel them on her face. "A personal one." She replies but there isn't a next question. She waits for a moment to give him the chance to ask further but he doesn't. Unsure she looks up at him again and their eyes lock right away.  
  
"A personal one?" He finally gives in and allows Sam the small victory of not having to explain further without him asking her to.  
  
"Yes, sir." She says and bites her lower lip again, his eyes move down her face and rest on her mouth. "They asked me..." She starts to say but as he looks up at her again her words falter. He irks his eyebrows encouraging her to continue. "They asked where my mole is, sir." She blurts out.  
  
Sam isn't sure what she expected to happen next. Maybe she wanted him to be outraged that anyone would ask her such personal questions. Or maybe she expected him to just laugh at her or be surprised. What she didn't expect was that he just remained as impassive as he has been before. "Oh."  
  
"Yeah." She says not sure what else to see and there is a soft ping as the elevator stops and the doors open.  
  
"Did you answer?" Jack asks not moving.  
  
"Yes." She admits and looks down at his shirt. She can't help but notice how he seems to be breathing a bit faster than normally as she wants to kick herself for being familiar with the speed of his breathing. It just was soothing sometimes when she doesn't have anything else to do and in a crises it relaxed her to see he was still in control of everything, including his nerves. But right here in this elevator apparently he wasn't.  
  
"Did you tell them the truth?" The doors behind her close again but the elevator remains on the same floor.  
  
"Yes." She answers her and her eyes move up from his chest towards his eyes again. The impassiveness is replaced with a smile. Why the hell is he smiling?  
  
"Major, does anyone on the base... besides Janet know where your mole is?" Jack asks her.  
  
"Er... no, sir." Sam answers frowning. "But Janet would never do that to Daniel."  
  
"I know that." Jack says calmly, still grinning. "But unless one of your ex's came and did this, how could they know the right answer?"  
  
Sam looks at him confused, not understand or maybe just not wanting to understand where he was going with this. Surely, he can't mean that she could have just made something up. That it was a standard question and that typing in * would have let her through.  
  
Jack just grins at her and punches the button so the doors to the elevator opens again. "Enjoy your time off, Carter." He says grinning and pushes past her, his body brushing against her.  
  
Sam turns around confused and watches him head towards the exit. "Sir!" She calls after him.  
  
Jack stops and turns around. "Major?" He asks.  
  
"Why do you think it was somebody at the SGC?" She asks, she knows it has to be someone from the base but she was sure she hadn't told him that.  
  
Jack just grins at her. "Bye, Carter." He turns around and starts whistling 'Danny boy'.  
  
Sam is left standing in the elevator watching after Jack but soon her view is blocked as the doors close again. She hits the button to get to her lab again. Somewhere in her mind she is sure that whoever did this would now also know the answer she had typed in. She shakes her head and walks out of the elevator smiling broadly as she wonders why Jack would go through such lengths to find out where her mole is.  
  
THE END  
  
  
  
I told you that it is silly but thank you for reading! I hope you liked it.  
  
  
  
PS: I'll try continuing my other stories asap but exams are time demanding right now. I will be so happy when they're all over. 


End file.
